


sweet gravity

by apeunde



Category: SHINee
Genre: I really like it, M/M, for a prompt, genderfluid kibum is nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:26:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6155128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apeunde/pseuds/apeunde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in the end, it’s a draw between her strawberry blonde curls and her brown pigtails; the different vibe of the two not making the decision any easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweet gravity

Usually, Kibum doesn’t mind her short hair as a girl. It fits her no matter what she wears, anyway — be it simple jeans and baggy t-shirts or tight dresses and high heels. It just feels nice, knowing she only has to adjust her clothes to her daily mood, and she can instantly feel at ease.

Today, though, she frets over everything. Her hair doesn’t really do what she wants it to do — it doesn’t fall nice and softly into her face, nor do any of her pretty hair clips and head bands make it look, well, like she wants it to. Frustrated, she grabs one of her wigs, looking at it critically before she drops it for the next.

In the end, it’s a draw between her strawberry blonde curls and her brown pigtails; the different vibe of the two not making the decision any easier. She knows she shouldn’t care so much about the impression she’d make on Taemin, after all, he knew what he’d get himself into from the start; Kibum doesn’t like to keep secrets, even less when it’s about herself as a person. If people don’t accept her, then she figures she doesn’t need to be around them, after all. But Taemin, Kibum does care about. Since they’ve met, they’ve been out a couple of times, and until now Kibum didn’t have the courage or the mood to be a girl. It’s something she can’t fully control, anyway, but thinking about the way Taemin’s eyes had glinted at her when he smiled all those times before, makes her want to trust him, enough not to cancel their date just because today she is a girl.

It’s weird, how her stomach flips every time she thinks about him; it usually doesn’t happen this fast, and she usually stays rational, not letting emotions in too quickly — but he’s weird and silly most of the times, soft and warm even if he tries to act it cool, and it feels like she can simply let go around him, like he doesn’t judge her or the world for anything. And it’s nice, getting away from the hypocrisy of people, even though Kibum still can’t say she knows him, well, that well.

‘That’s gonna change today, isn’t it,’ she thinks to herself as she decides on the brown pigtails, fitting it along her scalp nice and snug. There are still incessant what ifs floating around in her mind, nagging at her insides as she checks over her outfit in the mirror once again. She smiles; the pink jean skirt riding high on her waist and the light green shirt tucked into its seam look good against her skin, and she wills the worries away with a flip of her hand through her hair.

She shouldn’t summon the devil – even though she is almost 100% sure that Taemin wouldn’t even be able to reject anything coming from her when she looks this cute. But despite her comforting thoughts, she can feel the nervousness gnaw at her stomach as she steps out of her apartment, closing the door shut behind her with shaky fingers.

—

Taemin fidgets a little with his hands in his pockets as he waits, bottom lip worried between his teeth. It’s a bright day, the sun shining down on the plaza with a force he did not quite anticipate, and he’s beginning to feel a little hot under the black shirt and the grey coat hanging from his shoulders. He tried to style himself more to current fashion, jeans ripped and little, almost too tight necklace hanging from his neck. He knows Kibum likes fashion, so much that of course Taemin agreed when he suggested to meet downtown for a window shopping date.

He groans to himself, thinking that he’s really already in too deep — Kibum has him wrapped around his little finger already, and he finds he is in no mind to even complain.

Taemin lets his eyes wander around the crowd surrounding him, gaze scanning for Kibum’s usual black hair and sharp features. He checks his phone for the time, and chuckles when he sees that Kibum is already five minutes late – if Taemin wouldn’t have been so nervous, he’d probably be the one running late instead. But today, his hand shook when he turned the key to lock up the front door, and there was a bounce in his step that made him walk much faster than he usually does.

“Taemin-ah.”

Kibum’s voice is soft and resonates in Taemin’s ears so suddenly he almost snaps his neck with how fast he is to look up, slightly startled. He quickly smiles, about to open his lips to greet Kibum with a soft hello when he registers the person standing in front of him — and, to his mild surprise, looking quite different from the Kibum he’d seen and met up with until now.

Taemin’s voice catches in his throat as he takes in Kibum’s appearance, eyes raking over his— her exposed legs, over the pale pink skirt and her white handbag, up to the thin eyeliner with dark, thin eyelashes and the brown hair, tied up in little pigtails. He’s never seen her like this before, blushing in her nervousness, pink manicured fingers fisted around the strap of her bag, and he just can’t stop staring. His eyes take in the pale pink lipstick tinting her lips, and for a moment he almost forgets how to breathe.

He snaps out of it when Kibum shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other in front of him, realising the silence between them getting heavier by the minute; and it’s only then that he fully realises he needs to say something, or else Kibum might just misunderstand.

“You— wow, you look—“ Taemin blabbers as he looks at her, his eyes wide with amazement. “Pretty.” He finishes with sweaty hands and a nervous laugh. It seems to take the tension off of Kibum’s shoulders, though, the rigidness at Taemin’s silence seeming to dissipate slowly with his words.

“You, uh, think?” she tempts quietly, still not entirely convinced that Taemin didn’t just have the shock of his life. But Taemin’s smile is warm now, soft as she remembers it, and there’s a drumming thud coming from her heart.

“You look cute,” Taemin chuckles a little as he takes one step closer to her, pulling slightly at one of her pigtails. “Unexpected, but very cute. I didn’t know I would have such a pretty date today, or I would have dressed up better myself.” He gestures down at his simple outfit, and it earns him a thrilled laugh flowing from Kibum’s pink lips.

“You don’t look half bad,” she almost giggles, awkwardness gone, and Taemin’s heart beat picks up at the sound. “Though the coat seems to be a little hot, don’t you think?”

Taemin grimaces as he leads her down the street, towards the shopping district where the saturday crowd is filling the space around them with foreign chatter. “My weather forecast has failed me,” he grumbles at her, feet following Kibum to one of the shops close by.

“Mhmm. At least it looks good on you,” she beams at him, making his heart jump, before her eyes are averted to the rack of clothes displayed before them, and the focus shifts from Taemin’s coat to the many shirts and dresses in front of them.

 

Taemin feels like he loses track of the clothes and make up they pass over the next couple of hours, his attention fully shifting towards Kibum as they walk along the streets. She looks so soft as a girl that Taemin wonders if he would break her if he’d hold her, if she’d fit in his arms perfectly just like she seems to. He doesn’t pay any close attention to the things she tries on and parades for him, his eyes only ever landing on her eyes, her smile, her face. The sudden fondness settling in is completely different from the harsh attraction he felt to Kibum when they met before — two sides of the same coin that Taemin wouldn’t mind get sucked up in.

“Hey, is this a little too short?” she asks after another couple of dresses she’s shown him, and it’s only at her words that Taemin snaps out of his trance, eyes this time fully concentrating on the task at hand.

The moment his eyes take in the seam of the pretty, light blue dress stopping high up her thigh, he wishes she wouldn’t have asked him. His mouth turns dry at the sight of her skin, and even though the skirt she was wearing earlier wasn’t that much longer than the dress, something inside Taemin twists at the sight of the light blue fabric contrasting perfectly against her skin.

“It’s— uh,” Taemin mumbles unintelligently, eyes blinking fast a couple of times before averting themselves down, and Taemin can feel the dark, burning blush spreading on his cheeks. “It… might be a little… but it’s— very pretty.” He chokes out, both embarrassed and mildly turned on. He knows it’s not the place for that, nor the time — he’s only gotten to know Kibum like this today, and he’d like her to be comfortable showing herself like this to him before he even thinks about going anywhere further than the occasional kiss on the cheek. But his skin feels like it’s burning, and Kibum’s dark eyes set mischievously on him don’t help at all.

“Alright. I’ll buy this, then.” She beams at him with a twinkle in her eyes, and Taemin almost chokes on his breath.

Kibum pays for the dress and it gives Taemin just enough time to calm himself down, trying to keep his mind from wandering too far.

“All done. Shall we move on?” Kibum then chimes as he rejoins him, one of her hands dangling the little bag with her purchase, the other sneaking around Taemin’s right arm, pulling him closer to her as they make their way over to the next shop.

In the end, Taemin isn’t quite sure if the sun got hotter along the way of their date, or if the feeling of the constant warm flush on his cheeks is all thanks to Kibum.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope I did the prompt justice ;;; i'm still a little rusty ;; ahah


End file.
